Father, I am so grateful for my godly parents! I am also grateful that we had the privilege to help them with a few projects at their home this past weekend. Thank You for the multiple blessings of my family!
John 13:1-5 (<<click here to read the passage)
I started working at Kohl’s the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday!) in the year 2000. I so enjoy what I do now, but for almost two decades Kohl’s provided me with a steady income, solid benefits, and many, many friends that I cherish to this day!
When I was hired our store manager was Matt Lewis, a dedicated leader. He was firm and direct but by no means without compassion. And one leadership trait that I still hold in high regard was that, yes, he was the highest-ranking employee in the store, but no job, if it needed doing, was below him.
I can still vividly recall him coming out of the restroom with mop in hand. A toilet had overflowed, and there being no maintenance personnel on the clock, he took care of it! There was a mess, and he didn’t hesitate to clean it up. He was a leader, but he was also willing to serve. On occasion, you see that combination but many at that level of leadership would never even think about dirtying their hands in such a manner.
Truly it is incomprehensible that Jesus, the Creator-God of everything we can see and feel and hear around us, came to earth for the sole purpose of sacrificing His life in our stead. God All-powerful, All-knowing, born in the humblest of circumstances, to modest hard-working parents, lived his life amongst us. In the Father’s perfect timing He began to touch and teach those who so desperately needed to know that God, though knowing us far better than we even knew ourselves, truly cared about us and did everything within His mighty power to bring about our salvation from the ravages of sin.
The Apostle John at the beginning of this 13th chapter transitions to the week leading up to Jesus’ death. Beginning with the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. v1 The focus of His life had been loving His disciples and though they did not fully realize it at the time, He was showing God’s love, in all of His words and actions.
He was the ultimate leader an eternity before he was born and laid in that lowly manger. Verse 3 affirms that status.
Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. NLT
But regardless of that status, Jesus was simultaneously the ultimate servant. The word “So” at the beginning of verse 4, says to me that even though Jesus was of the highest authority in the universe, that it meant little to Him because the role of servant trumped it all.
So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. v4-5 NLT
The lowliest of tasks, reserved for the lowliest of servants, He, the Son of God, took upon Himself.
Lord Jesus, may we willingly, without a second thought, give up our “crowns” and be willing to serve as we follow in Your footsteps. May nothing be below us. Amen.
Aug 29th, 2021, Sun, 7:39 pm
